The wonderful world of Dorothée's

I'm sooooooooo glad I discovered the photo work of Dorothée Shoes (who, despite her name is French!), for it's really fantastic. Her shots are currently exhibited on the grids of the Parc de Choisy in the 13th arrondissement and they are all stunning. Fortunately you don't have to come to Paris to see them, you can have a sneak preview here. I'm sure you'll agree with me.

Photo quais

Every two years, in front of the musée du quai Branly, a large open air photo exhibition takes place. It's called "Photoquais", it's free and it's really worth the look. I went there before my departure to Denver and I did not regret it. More than 40 photographers from everywhere but Europe were featured around one and single theme "Look at me"! Tempted? Too late, the exhibition closed on the 17th of November, but you can still see some of the photos on their website.

Photo exhibit

Can you see the photos in the background of this shot? There are part of a really cool exhibit by Reza, a very famous Iranian/French photographer who went all over the world and took the picture of people who grow coffee around the world. The cool thing about this exhibit is that it takes place on the Quais des Tuileries, opposite to the Musée d'Orsay, where people can walk (well not in this kind of weather!). You can also enjoy it if you take a boat trip on the Seine, like on this Vedettes de Paris, that I grabbed in this scene! 

Paparazzi!

Yesterday evening I was lucky enough to go to a fantastic exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo (and drink a glass of Roederer Champagne!). What was it about? Stolen photos, taken by two famous French paparazzi: Bruno Mouron and Pascal Rostain who met and worked at Paris Match magazine for a long time, before creating their own agency. In France - and probably everywhere - stolen photos of famous people ("Les Pipoles", as some people call them here!) - are highly controversial. But when you look at them at an exhibit, years after they were taken, they have a different flavor. I could not help, but being inspired by the theme of the evening... so I took a "paparazzi" photo to! If my French visitors look carefully, they will see a... "pipole" in this photo!

Another eye on Paris

I came across these intriguing posters near the Beaubourg area (Pompidou center). I thought they were meant to promote a new clothing line or something of the kind... I was wrong. It appears that Buster Adams is a photographer and that he also takes - very cool - photos of Paris (among many other subjects). Take a look at his very creative website and visit the "I am a tourist/Je suis un touriste" section where you'll see Paris though his eyes.

Jungle Paris

Here are two scenes of Paris that are both hard to imagine and fascinating: The Pompidou center on the left and the Eiffel Tower on the right, surrounded by the jungle! I found these two photos at an art gallery opening last evening and I really loved them. They were made by Chris Morin, an artist who likes to depict present places hundreds of years from now, just like we can now visit ancient sites that are surrounded with trees and plants and partly destroyed. Very interesting. See other places on his site.

Paris Silhouettes

To be honest, I did not know of photographer Alexandre Vitkine, but when I saw this poster promoting his work at rue Drouot, I took a closer look... Apparently he was born in Berlin in 1910, and became a photographer then a sculptor after he pursued a career in industry as an electromechanical engineer. He played a lot with "silhouettes" in his photo work. I'll probably have a look at them at La Galerie at rue Bonaparte.  

Paris Izis Photo Exhibit

Inside the Paris town hall, there is currently an amazing photo exhibit by Izis. Izis (real name: Izraëlis Bidermanas) was a Lithuanian artist who emigrated to Paris in 1930 when he was 19 and worked there as a photographer - especially for Paris Match. He should be as famous as Doisneau, Ronis or Cartier-Bresson (he was even one of the "Five French Photographers" that took part in the New York MoMA exhibition in 1951), but he is not! That is why I think it's really good that Paris offers us the occasion to see his work. You wish you could see it too? Well, no worries, you can "visit" the exhibit without coming to Paris (I know you probably would prefer to!). Just click here.

6 billion others, the exhibition.

Do you remember when I encountered the photographer Yann Arthus Bertrand for the promotion of his project called 6 billion others? I told you that on top of the web site there would also be an exhibition at Le Grand Palais in January. Well, last evening I went to see it. The whole place is covered in screens with testimonies from people from all over the world. It's not only impressive, but can also be very moving. See the guy in the photo holding his head? He ended up crying in front of the camera after he'd been asked to talk about the topic "family". The audience was like petrified.

Photo Shoot

So the reason why I had dinner at l'Atelier Renault yesterday was to prepare a photo shoot that took place today in La Vilette. The French car manufacturer thought of a pretty cool idea to promote one of their latest models (the new Megane). They invited a few bloggers from several countries in Europe (including France of course) to participate in a giant, joint photo shoot. I was one of them. The result will appear on a specific website on January 21. I'll let you know more about it. (The white part in the background is... snow!)

Close encounter of a mankind lover

Last evening, thanks to Natasha and Sacha QS, I've been lucky enough to have been invited to a meeting with Yann Arthus Bertrand, one of the most worldwide famous photographers. If you know him, you also know he is also a true lover of mankind and nature. That is why he committed himself to a fantastic project called 6 billion others, which purpose is to discover what human beings from over the planet feel about happiness, love, money... and the meaning of life in general. It's fascinating. Please visit the website (there will be a new version early next year, that is why this little gathering was organized) and do pay a visit to the exhibition in Le Grand Palais too, if you're around in January... (I'll keep you posted!)

Babies at La Samaritaine

La Samaritaine - a former Paris department store - is the site of an unusual exhibit of photographs by Thierry Bouët: Newborns. This is a photo of one of the 50 on display - a baby boy just 55 minutes old. Why? Well, as Christmas is coming, it's the way LVMH (the owner of La Samaritaine) and the Paris 1st Town Hall have found to celebrate the nativity. The exhibit will run until January 20, 2009 (see a wider angle here).
Don't forget if you are in town: a little PDP gathering will take place tonight (Tuesday 25) at General Lafayette (a restaurant located 52 rue Lafayette). If you want to joint just email me (eric at parisdailyphoto.com) so that I know approximately how many people will show up. Thank you.

Encounter of the 4th kind!

It was 11:42 pm, I was walking down the street after having dinner outside with some good friends and I really had no clue of what "the PDP photo of the day" was going to be! Then suddenly, in front of Le BHV department store, I came across this strange seen! I have no clue what all this was for... Probably a photo shoot for an ad like the one I caught in January 2006. But it was really fun - and unexpected.

Palestine in Paris

Last night on my way back home I noticed some unusual traffic on the Pont des arts. I stopped and found out they're having a photo exhibit called "La Palestine à Paris". If you wander on this wonderful bridge, you can see about 150 photos about the daily life in Palestine taken by two famous Palestinian photographers: Rula Halawani and Taysir Batniji. This photo shows one of the two street lamps at the entrance of the bridge that they used to hang a street sign that says "Palestine, life, simply life". I don't know why, but something tells me this photo will have less comments than the one of yesterday ;-)

A la Doisneau

Wherever you're from there are good chances that you already heard of Robert Doisneau, one of the most famous French photographers in the world. His most famous photos (including the unforgettable Baiser de l'hôtel de ville) were taken after the war, in the 50's. Until recently there was an exhibition about him at the Paris town hall and now that it's closed this exhibition has moved to the web. Here is the link. Enjoy! As a tribute I took this photo of La Cour des petites écuries from the rue du Faubourg Saint Denis and it probably did not change much since the 50's.